"Vladimir Putin's authority is under question. His reputation as a security tsar has been badly tarnished by the ease with which terrorists took over [the school in Beslan] and the appalling failure of the authorities to respond.

"Russia in its rightful fury will feel the need to strike back. Omens from the recent past are not encouraging. The 9/11 attacks in New York brought worldwide sympathy for Americans. Their response was to lash out at Iraq. The result: a world less safe from terrorism than ever ...

"Bowing to terrorist demands is unacceptable, yet years of heavy-handed policing have failed to quell the Chechen conflict ... No one should lecture Russia in its hour of grief. But the lesson of 9/11 is that restraint must be encouraged."

Joan Smith Independent on Sunday, September 5

"There is no doubt that Mr Putin is temperamentally ill-equipped to handle this new episode in a very dirty war ... The international community needs to make up for its years of neglect by insisting on an urgent criminal investigation into who financed and planned [the siege], a commitment from the president to allow human rights monitors into Chechnya and a UN peacekeeping force to protect the civilian population from reprisals. This is unlikely to happen unless world leaders put maximum pressure on Russia ...

"The crisis in the republic has created the conditions in which terrorism can flourish. Chechens have watched for years as Russian forces descended on their cities and villages, raping and murdering with impunity. As the slogans say on the walls of Grozny: Welcome to Hell, part two."

Patrick Sabatier Libération, September 4

"The head of the Kremlin has trapped himself by dealing with the question of Chechnya only with brutal repression. He has radicalised his adversaries and left the way clear for the terrorism of Islamic fundamentalists, who supplied inspiration and gave support to the extremists, if Moscow is to be believed ...

"Mr Putin, like President George Bush, claims to be waging 'war on terrorism'. It is an objective of which one can only approve. But terrorism is neither a state, nor an army, nor a centralised party. It is a form of crime ... We cannot fight this cancer with arms alone. The treatment of this disease must at the same time involve politics - isolating terrorist groups; policework - dismantling groups before they attack; and diplomacy - taking away the assasins' sanctuary. The recourse to armed force, sometimes inevitable, should only be the ultimate recourse. It rarely results in a true victory, and never in a final one."

New York Times Editorial, September 4

"Moscow has responded to the Chechen issue mainly with force and intransigence. That has been politically popular among a majority of Russians and it has undoubtedly been satisfying for Mr Putin to present himself as a resolute, tough leader. The practical consequence, however, has been that an already dreadful problem is now very much worse ... Mr Putin has never been strong on diplomatic nuance. But unless he now opens a serious negoti ating channel with legitimate Chechen leaders outside the Moscow-backed puppet government, things can only get worse. And if they do, Russia will not be the only nation that pays the price."

Arab News Editorial, September 4

"If [Mr Putin's] call for an emergency meeting of the UN security council to get international backing for his handling of the Chechen situation can be taken as a sign of his willingness to concede a role for the international community in dealing with the crisis, it is a welcome sign. While the terrorists who were involved in the hostage-taking deserved no mercy, their action does not justify the indiscriminate murder of Chechens."

Herald Editorial, Scotland, September 4

"Given that the Putin government will never stamp out these ethnic and religious elements underlying discontent across the Caucasus, what should it do to accommodate them? An obvious answer would be an injection of investment and develop ment. Poverty is endemic, education attainment low and unemployment extremely high in Chechnya ... He should [also] find credible Chechens with whom to negotiate ...

"Faced with the explosive mixture of ardent nationalism, a tradition of gross brutality and militant Islam, there are no easy answers to halting the cycle of violence ... [but] recourse to the iron fist will simply generate more black widows and their murderous male accomplices."

Dominic Lieven Times, September 4

"Mr Putin cannot cut and run. He was elected on a ticket of restoring order [in Chechnya]; his legitimacy and personal credibility still depend on fighting the Chechens ... Even if Russian leaders were minded to grant Chechen independence they would have to be confident that Chechnya did not become an anarchic base from which terrorists could strike into Russian territory. At present no Russian government could believe this ... The Russian-Chechen conflict is therefore likely to continue and escalate."